the difference between Egypt and Libya is not Gaddafi

There is no amount of 'no fly zone' or no cache of weapons that will change Libya into another Egypt.
The UN's belief that military power could be used to 'tip the scales', simply shows how fundamentally they misunderstand what has caused the successful revolutions to become so: nonviolence.

If Gaddafi can be credited with preventing a successful revolution, it must be most closely linked with his having kept Gene Sharp's From Dictatorship to Democracy or its derivatives out of the hands of his people.  Because what is clear, is that they were not ready, and despite Western hubris, there is nothing that can be done at the last minute to make them so.

If the UN wants to support the ending of oppressive regimes its money would be better spent translating and disseminating literature on effective nonviolent resistance to oppressed people around the world.  The spread of weapons and violence will never bring peace, for they are antithetical.

It is not that I abhor violent action (although I do), it is simply that it is fundamentally and inescapably ineffective at achieving its stated goals and unparalleled at creating catastrophic unintended consequences.

eric hepburn

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